The People Ain't Happy: The #Lawan Protests

Public sentiment on Twitterjaya has not improved since our last post—developments on the political front, while interspersed with heart-warming achievements by all our athletes throughout the ongoing Tokyo Olympics, continue to chip away at the Rakyat’s patience.

Most recently, the drama is centred around special Parliamentary sitting, which culminated in the King reprimanding de facto law minister Takiyuddin Hassan for misleading Parliament after the latter made a startling claim that royal assent has been given to revoke the Emergency Ordinances introduced during Malaysia’s state of emergency. Interestingly, proceedings were then postponed indefinitely after Covid-19 cases were reportedly detected in the Parliament buildings.

After more than a year of questionable pandemic management by officials, public frustration has finally spilled on to the streets. 31 Jul saw #Lawan (fight) protestors gathering in Kuala Lumpur to voice their dissatisfaction against the Mahiaddin government. The use of #Lawan hashtag recorded an impressive total of more than 210,000 mentions on Twitter on the day of the protest alone. Other notable hashtags including #KeluardanLawan (get out and fight) and #LawanIntimidasi (fighting intimidation) also received significant attention, receiving about 19,000 and 11,000 mentions respectively. #Lawan received another spike when Opposition MPs staged a protest on 2 Aug in response to the postponement of parliament proceedings, recording about 41,000 mentions that day.

In contrast, the long popular #KerajaanGagal (failed government) similarly showed an uptick in mentions, albeit less dramatic compared to the aforementioned, more event-specific hashtags.

Note: #Lawan again recording a staggering number of mentions, further solidifying our opinion of the campaign potentially being one of Malaysia’s most successful online campaigns thus far.

#BukaDataran (Open up the Dataran) was used during the #Lawan protest when demonstrators were barred by police from entering the Dataran Merdeka. #HartalDoktorKontrak (contract doctors’ strike) refers to the nationwide strike on 26 Jul by contract doctors over unfair employment conditions; the hashtag recorded up to 146,000 mentions on Twitter on the day of the strike.

The pandemic has clearly made online campaigns increasingly popular as an outlet for public disapproval. Unfortunately, official response against these campaigns seem to generally consist of either threatening compounds against protestors, calling up individuals for police questioning, or arresting activists involved in these protests. Whatever it is the government is intending, these actions are unlikely to gain much candy points from the already irate public.

Song of Angry Men: Social Media Campaign Ramps Up as Malaysians Protest Against Government

In recent weeks, several events have heated up social media in Malaysia: the announcement of the indefinite Phase One of the Movement Control Control, rising cases of suicide due to pandemic-related hardships, insensitive reactions to the #BenderaPutih (white flag) movement by politicians, including trying to hijack or out-right dismissing the campaign, just to name a couple. On the international front, Malaysia is making headlines again for the wrong reason—National Geographic described the country as “one of the worst affected in the region,” while the Economist ranks Malaysia last in its return-to-normalcy index.

Malaysians apparently have had enough.

On 3rd July, the #BenderaHitam (black flag) campaign started on social media. The hashtag, along with its simpler but widely popular sibling hashtag #lawan (fight), recording a cumulative total of more than 200,000 mentions (and counting) mostly on Twitter (and including some count in blogs, and online media etc.), in the past week alone. The movement essentially makes three demands: (1) for the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Mahiaddin Yasin (alias Muhyiddin Yassin); (2) for immediate reopening of Parliament; and (3) for the end to the state of Emergency.

The campaign has escalated after months of the #KerajaanGagal (failed government) hashtag and its iterations, including #KerajaanCirit, which trended after a two-sentenced press statement from the Prime Minister’s Office announcing that the embattled leader has been hospitalised due to diarrhoea.

Note: #lawan records a staggering number of mentions, leaving us wondering whether this online campaign is Malaysia’s most successful thus far. We think #lawan's popularity could be breaking some all time records in Twitterjaya.

The visceral anger from Malaysians seems triggered by the dubious conduct of the political elite, including, among others, illicit durian gatherings, official derision of the #BenderaPutih campaign, police investigation on the #BenderaHitam movement, and overseas trips. These put Malaysian citizens at odds with the country’s authorities.

On the business front, rumours and news of questionable land deals happening such as the Subang Airport deal and mining activities at Tasik Chini are abound, driving a stark contrast with the litany of reports of Malaysians struggling to get by amid the Covid-19 lockdowns. Malaysia’s upcoming 5G project, weighing in at RM11 billion (versus recent direct fiscal support of RM5 billion and RM10 billion for the needy bottom strata of Malaysia society), has gone viral in WhatsApp speculation. The sound of billions may not be sitting well with worries about more Malaysians falling deeper into financial despair and students still struggling to get access to the internet.

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Hello there!

If you are able, do consider donating to organisations helping communities in need. Author Hanna Alkaf has compiled a useful Twitter thread on of #BenderaPutih initiatives here: thread of #BenderaPutih initiatives. Alternatively, KitaJagaKita maintains a fully verified list of the same over at their website: KitaJagaKita.com.

There is now also a map of food banks available throughout Malaysia created by Twitter user @penangstrays that can be shared to those who need the help: Food Banks: public food banks in Malaysia.

A Tale of Two Politicians: Malaysians Calling for Azmin and Tajuddin's Resignations

Malaysians have been calling for the metaphorical heads of two prominent politicians, Tajuddin Abdul Rahman and Azmin Ali, after a series of gaffes that left the public seething.

Tajuddin was the former chairman of Prasarana Malaysia Berhad, a GLC which operates the Light Rapid Transit (LRT) system. After the LRT crash near KLCC on 24 May, Tajuddin gave a press conference the next day, which many have described as appalling. He was fired from his position on 26 May. Recently, Tajuddin defended his behaviour at the aforementioned press conference, claiming he was “humiliated” and threatening to sue those who had allegedly “tarnished his reputation.”

Azmin is the current minister of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), the seemingly sole ministry initially responsible for operating the system issuing letters for allowing businesses to operate during the MCO 3.0. Business owners, including SMEs and hotel operations, have complained about problems in obtaining these approval letters, including from technical issues not unlike the ones during the AstraZeneca registrations. This, coupled with reports of non-essential businesses being allowed to operate as well as unclear lockdown SOPs, have led to an online petition calling for Azmin's resignation. As of 4.30 p.m. on 17 Jul, the petition has garnered almost 240,000 signatures.

And May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor: Malaysia's AstraZeneca Vaccine Hubbub

In a bid to both persuade people to vaccinate and not let vaccines go to waste, Malaysia introduced a registration programme separate from its national immunisation plan for those willing to take the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine. While not ideal, many have acknowledged that the move may be necessary due to public hesitancy following emerging reports of blood clot risks associated with the vaccine (which, incidentally, is extremely rare—chances of dying due to blood clots as a result of the AZ vaccine is literally one in a million; you have a better chance of being struck by lightning in Subang Jaya by comparison).

Things did not go as smoothly as hoped. The first round of online registration on 2 May for 268,800 slots for the AZ vaccines saw a delayed launch and several website glitches, which was unfortunate albeit not surprising given the novelty of the situation.

However, by the third round on 26 May, this time for 956,609 slots, (the second one on 23 May was opened only to the elderly), these problems seemed to have worsened—applicants were faced with a slew of technical issues including infinite captcha loops, unresponsive website buttons, and repeated submissions of personal details. Bizarrely, some users who failed to register were later sent appointment dates, while others who actually managed have yet to receive an update, compounding the frustration.

In a streak of morbid humour, netizens have likened the mad scramble for AZ vaccine appointments to that of the Hunger Games—the term gained traction in Twitterjaya during the periods when the online registrations were opened, especially during the third round of registrations (see the chart below). Interestingly, the term “RM70 million” has also recently trended, most likely referring to the RM70 million allocated to the country’s national coronavirus vaccination programme for “data integration and appointment system” purposes.

The disastrous registration processes generally coincided with spikes in several Twitter hashtags as well, particularly #KerajaanGagal and #KerajaanBodoh, although the former has trended for other pandemic-related issues, notably during the announcement of yet another movement control order (MCO) on 10 May.

By the PolTracker team, 8 Jun 2021

Power to the People: The 2021 Myanmar Coup D'état

Note: Chart indicates hashtags in the English language among Myamnar netizens. The coup was on 1 Feb 2021. Facebook was the more popular social media platform in Myanmar before it was blocked, 3 Feb 2021. There was a rapid shift to Twitter and other social media platforms. We explored some popular hashtags on Twitter Myanmar. There are also daily hashtags, e.g. #Feb21coup, #Feb22coup, which helped organize demonstrators, similar to those we observed for the 2020 Thailand protests.

Protests continue in Myanmar. Tens of thousands of civilians flooded Yangon as a sign of protest against the coup, with several unfortunate deaths reported. Internet access was later restricted and popular social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, were blocked—ironically, the Myanmar military itself was just banned from Facebook and Instagram, with Facebook believing that “the risks of allowing the Tatmadaw (Myanmar army) on Facebook and Instagram are too great.”

The current situation in Myanmar adds to ongoing political upheavals within ASEAN bloc countries. Special powers have been used in several countries, including Cambodia, Thailand and also in Malaysia (with an Emergency) most recently. Several ASEAN countries, including Vietnam, Laos, and Brunei, do not have general elections at present. Singapore and Indonesia face rising online discourse, questioning ruling elites and political oligarchies. The Philippines has more than its share of those, while strongman outsiders have gained public support.

How will the Myanmar coup and protests (and those in Thailand ) affect the region as a whole? And how the coup will end is anyone’s guess, at least for the moment.

We spoke to a Myanmar insider on 24 Feb 2021 (the excitement of this source was palpable and infectious): “55 million are protesting here. We’ve had a general strike for 20 days now. You need cash to buy things. The banks aren’t open and the civil servants are out protesting too.

It has been amazing, and the young have been amazing. Its Thai sim cards and VPNs to beat the blocks. One day, all the vehicles on the road stopped (in protest). Amazing coordination for this. Donors are providing food and water to the protestors. The military said that they have 10 million votes missing, so where are their 10 million supporters? “

Unfortunately 9 people have died; but that seems few for such massive protests. The neighbourhood groups have been watching out for the prisoners released by the military coup leaders to help them bust the protests. I’m not sure if the coup leaders were inspired by Trump’s storming of the Capitol or what. But they’re getting some blowback as there are sanctions/asset freezes catching the retired generals and their wider families; a bigger group is now affected than just a very few under such strictures in the past.“

Check out our graph above of key hashtag tweets, that reaches to a million and more daily on peaks. By comparison, during the Thailand protest period of October 2020, we observed the daily counts for key protest hashtags tweets could reach up to about a million day. In contrast, the Malaysia Emergency announcement period in January 2021 saw limited activity. There, major protest hashtag tweets peaked at under three thousand a day.

By the PolTracker team, 25 Feb 2021

Notes:

a) Populations. Malaysia c. 32 million, Myanmar c. 54 million, Thailand c. 69 million.

b) On sources and language: Hashtag tweets reviewed were in English for Myanmar (and Thailand) where they outnumber local language hashtags. On the protest news front there, our sources point out there is much more in the local language than in English.